The present invention generally, and more particularly to a multi-purpose golf tool, more particularly to a golf accessory useful as a golf playing surface repair tool, ball marker carrier, and a golf club grip rest for a plurality of clubs.
It has become popular for many golf tools to have the structure necessary for accomplishing a plurality of tasks. One of such tasks is to repair ball marks (e.g. indentations in the ground surface resulting from a driven ball impacting the fairway, green etc.), as has been the custom with a two pronged device.
Conventional divot tools are often configured to include a body portion from which a pair of elongated legs extend in a generally mutually parallel arrangement. A golfer utilizes such divot repair tool by inserting the legs into a golf surface, either a fairway or a green, in order to spruce up the ground surface following a shot (i.e. restore the ground surface to its pre-shot condition). Such tools consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
Beyond ground surface repair, a variety of devices, many of which have a multi-function, Swiss Army Knife-like character, are known to accomplish anything from ball marking to bottle opening. By way of example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,050,905 discloses a divot tool formed from a pair of cooperating body components which effectively house a golf ball marking pen therein. U.S. Pat. No. 6,033,322 discloses a divot tool which is adapted to hold a convention ball marker (i.e. a marker having a xe2x80x9cstemxe2x80x9d in the parlance of the disclosure). U.S. Pat. No. 6,022,280 depicts and describes a multi-purpose golf tool which includes a divot fixer, cleat-tightener club or cigar/cigarette rest, ball marker, and hinged money clip. Lastly, U.S. Pat. No. 6,004,229 discloses a divot tool configured for equipment maintenance (e.g. cleats and club heads) and equipped with a knife and bottle opener.
While heretofore known devices work with varying levels of efficiency, they suffer from one or more drawbacks. Among these drawbacks is complexity of design which increases device cost. Some devices are funtionally difficult to manipulate. Further still, some devices are inefficient in the method of ball marker storage, limited in their ability to support golf club grips off the playing surface, inefficient in divot repair, or aesthetically undesirable. Thus, it is highly desirable to provide a multi-purpose golf tool, which in addition to having the ability to efficiently repair ground surface marks and temporarily mark ball position, is adapted to securely support a plurality of golf club grips off the ground surface, as may be the case when several clubs are brought to a ball location in anticipation of the pending, or subsequent shot(s).
As product evolution (i.e. improvements in form and function) is for all practical purposes never ending, and in consideration of the shortcomings of heretofore known golf tools, a multi-purpose golf tool capable of selectively holding a plurality of golf club grips off a golf playing surface is provided. The tool includes a body member having a top, a bottom, a first lateral side, a second lateral side, a front surface and a rear surface. The body member is equipped with means for selectively supporting a plurality of golf club grips off a golf playing surface. The tool further includes an enclosure means removably secured to the body member for selectively storing and displaying items contained within the enclosure means.
Preferably, an elongate base extends from the bottom of the body member for engaging the golf playing surface. In addition, pivotable arms, adapted to be reversibly extendible from the lateral sides of the body member in furtherance of receiving a golf club grip, are further provided.